


She Gives Me Butterflies

by thepurpledragon4444



Category: Renegades - Marissa Meyer
Genre: Childhood Trauma, Domestic Fluff, F/F, Fluff, Marriage Proposal, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 23:47:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29197830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thepurpledragon4444/pseuds/thepurpledragon4444
Summary: Takes place post-canon, when they're in their mid-twenties. Danna has a surprise for Narcissa, but before she can reveal it, the couple gets into a fight about Narcissa's late grandfather, Gene Cronin.
Relationships: Danna Bell | Monarch/Narcissa Cronin, Narcissa Cronin & Gene Cronin
Kudos: 4





	She Gives Me Butterflies

“Good morning,” Danna sang as she walked into the kitchen, looking bright and ready for the day. She put a bagel in the toaster and accepted the mug of coffee Narcissa had prepared for her, giving her a small kiss on the cheeks as a thank you.

“Someone’s in a good mood,” Narcissa smiled as Danna’s lips pressed against her cheek, “Usually I’m the morning person.”

“I’m just excited for today,” Danna beamed, her amber eyes sparkling as she began to spread cream cheese on her bagel. Narcissa smiled at her girlfriend’s cheerful mood and raised her eyebrows in intrigue.

“And what’s so special about today?” she asked, sitting down at the breakfast table as she bit into a blueberry muffin.

“Just that I have a little surprise planned for you,” Danna replied, giving her a wink before stealing a bite out of her muffin, which she immediately snatched away.

“A surprise?” Narcissa asked, “What is it?”

“If I told you,” Danna took a sip of her coffee, “it wouldn’t be a surprise, would it?”

“Come on,” Narcissa nudged her in good nature, “You know I don’t like surprises.”

“You’ll like this one.”

“Just tell me,” she laughed, pulling at Danna’s hand.

“Well, I guess I can’t blame you for not liking surprises, considering your childhood,” Danna said, “But I think-”

Narcissa’s smile froze on her face, “What does that mean?” 

“What?” Danna didn’t seem to register the change in her tone.

“What do you mean,” Narcissa heard her voice sharpen into something dangerous, “‘considering your childhood?’”

Now Danna recognized the voice, “Nothing, babe.”

Narcissa let the smile drop from her face and Danna sucked in a breath. 

“It’s just,” Danna winced at her own words, “living with your grandfather must have made surprises something to be wary of.”

“My grandfather,” Narcissa spat the words, “did what he had to do to survive. He was a good person.”

“I’m sorry, Cissa,” Danna lifted her hands in mock surrender, “Okay? Can we go back to eating breakfast now?”

Then a terrible realization dawned on Narcissa, settling over her like a cloud of dust, “You don’t think he was a good guy.”

“I didn’t say tha-”

“But you think that,” Narcissa accused, “Am I wrong?”

Danna closed her eyes and ran her hand through her hair, making a pained expression like she knew she was going to regret her next words. 

“He was a weapons dealer, Cissa,” Danna spoke them anyways, “I’m not going to call him a saint.”

“He took care of me,” Narcissa’s hands were balled into fists.

Now, Danna’s eyes flashed with anger. Not at her. For her.

“You were a child,” Danna told her, “And he exposed you to that dangerous world.”

“It was the age of anarchy,” Narcissa didn’t know how long they had been standing up for, but they were and now she took a step back, “Everyone was exposed to a dangerous world.”

“You told me that a customer threatened to shoot you unless your grandfather gave them what they wanted,” Dann’s voice grew louder, “On three separate occasions.”

“And I never got hurt,” Narcissa yelled back, “He didn’t let them shoot me.”

“Wow, really?” Danna replied sarcastically, “He didn’t let them shoot his own fucking granddaughter? Well, then you’re right. The epitome of all things good, that’s what he was.”

“You didn’t know him,” Narcissa felt her eyes prick with tears, “You don’t know what he went through to help us survive.”

“There were other options,” Danna insisted, “Maybe something that didn’t involve helping literal murderers.”

Narcissa looked at Danna through her tear-filled eyes, betrayed and angry. They stood like that for a moment, just staring each other down. Then a tear fell out of Narcissa’s eye, dropping silently to the ground. Danna’s angry expression immediately crumpled to one of regret and concern.

“I’m going out,” Narcissa spit the words out with poison in her voice, heading towards the door. Danna stepped forward, placing a soft hand on her arm and Narcissa froze under the warm, familiar touch.

“Cissa, listen, okay,” Danna spoke softly, “I’m sorry. You’re right, I don’t know what I’m talking about.”

She recognized that voice. Danna was lying. She wanted Narcissa to forget their argument. And the worst thing was that it just might work.

No.

“No,” Narcissa said just that, forcing herself to jerk her arm away from Danna’s touch, “I need space.”

Before she could change her mind, Narcissa grabbed the keys and stormed out of the apartment, angry tears falling down her cheeks and her not bothering to stop them.

Narcissa headed to a park near their apartment, deciding she needed the calming presence of nature. When she reached it, she saw that it was nearly empty, the cool, early morning keeping people away.

She paused at a small lake, sitting down on the bench, shivering at the coldness of it. She should have brought a sweater but she had barely remembered to take her phone in her anger. She glanced at the phone now, looking to see if Danna had texted. 

She hadn’t. 

Not that Narcissa cared, of course. Danna had said terrible things about her grandfather. Her grandfather, who sacrificed everything for her.

A bright red bird streaked across her vision and Narcissa was reminded of a memory.

She was 8 and her grandfather had taken her to an abandoned greenhouse. The plants in the greenhouse hadn’t died, like Narcissa had thought they would. No, rather they grew wildly attracting birds, bugs and small animals to the greenhouse. She and her grandfather had spent hours there, smelling the flowers, watching the birds. At one point, a butterfly had landed on Narcissa’s finger, surprising her and her grandfather with it’s willingness to climb on her. She wondered now if that butterfly had known what the future held for her.

She remembered the memory with a fond smile but that smile quickly fell away when she remembered what happened next.

The real reason they had gone to the greenhouse was because one of her grandfather’s customers needed a neutral place to meet. 

Narcissa could remember crouching behind one of thicker plants, keeping still and quiet, even as a spider began to climb up her arm and onto her neck. 

She had learned early on to not move or make a sound in situations like these. Not unless she wanted to face the consequences.

Narcissa was pulled back to the present when she saw a small dot of orange from the corner of her eye. The dot grew closer, revealing itself to be a single monarch butterfly.

It landed softly on the bench, just next to her. Narcissa couldn’t stop a small smile from slipping onto her face.

Another butterfly joined the first one, landing on the bench as well. Slowly, one by one, hundreds of monarch butterflies landed on the bench, until she could hardly see the brown wood beneath them. 

Finally, the final butterfly lands on Narcissa’s lap, its wings fluttering slightly. 

After a moment’s pause, Narcissa placed her hand, palm opened and facing up, in front of the butterfly. It climbed onto her hand, its small legs tickling her skin.

“Hey,” she said softly to it, bringing her hand closer to her face. Danna took this as an invitation to change into human form. Her butterflies gathered together, a sight that always caught Narcissa breathless, no matter how many times she witnessed it.

Then Danna was there, sitting next to her on the bench, a hundred times more breathtaking than the sight she had just seen. She held a dark blue sweater which she offered Narcissa.

She took the sweater and put it on, Danna taking a breath before starting, “Listen, Cissa, I’m so sor-”

“No,” Narcissa interrupted her softly, “You were right. My grandfather wasn’t the perfect person. He did a lot of things wrong, things that traumatized me.”

It was hard to admit these things, they felt like a betrayal to her grandfather, but it was the truth. And admitting that was the first step to healing.

“You never did tell me what that surprise was,” Narcissa smiled at her girlfriend, wanting to think about something else.

Danna hesitated and Narcissa could tell that she was considering telling her after everything that happened. Then, Narcisa noticed her hand had subconsciously drifted to her pocket.

“Is it in your pocket?” Narcissa’s eyes lit up, “Did you get me a gift?”

“Kind of,” Danna replied, smiling as Narcissa reached to her pocket and pulled out a small black box.

“Oh, did you get me those earrings I asked for?” Narcissa asked as she opened the box, “They we-”

Instead of a pair of earrings, the box opened to reveal a ring, sparkling and silver. 

Narcissa brought the ring closer to her face, gasping at the intricate carvings of butterflies studded with small diamonds that surrounded the large diamond in the center. 

“Sweet rot, Danna,” Narcissa could not tear her eyes away from the ring, “How much did this thing cost?”

“I know, it was dumb to spend so much money on a ring,” Danna said sheepishly, “Considering how much we’re gonna spend on the wedding.”

She paused for a moment, “Assuming there will be a wedding?”

Narcissa laughed, slipping the ring onto her finger and leaning into Danna’s chest, “Well, considering you just spent half our life savings’ on the engagement ring, I’m kind of obligated to say yes.”

Danna laughed at that too, putting her arm around her, tucking Narcissa’s head under her chin. She smelled familiar and warm as Narcissa held out her hand so they could both admire the ring.

“You sure it has nothing to do with the fact that,” Danna teased, “you’re totally obsessed with me?”

“That may have played a small role in my decision making.”

Danna laughed again, the sound vibrating in Narcissa’s ear. She kissed the top of Narcissa’s head who leaned deeper into Danna’s arms.

“I love you,” Danna whispered into her hair.

“You better,” Narcissa scoffed, shifting slightly to get more comfortable.

After a pause, however, Narcissa spoke again.

“I love you, too.”


End file.
